The Qwen team from Alibaba described the process of creating a personal agent, asserting that the next stage in the development of AI assistants depends on the coordinated operation of three components: the model, memory, and service ecosystem. Jiang Guanjun, Head of AI Algorithms Department in Qwen Alibaba's business unit, presented this concept on October 22 at the China National Computer Congress (CNCC) in Chengdu.
Jiang divided the evolution of AI applications into three stages: chat, agent, and assistant. In the chat stage, AI responds to user queries. In the agent stage, the system performs assigned tasks. The assistant, which he says is where the industry is heading, combines professional knowledge with the user's personal context, plans actions around the user's goals, and detects needs they have not noticed. He emphasized that a true personal agent must provide added value and offer proactive, individualized service.
He suggested that theoretically, a personal agent is capable of solving almost all daily problems in work, study, and personal life. However, the main obstacle is the system's ability to correlate its capabilities with the optimal path to solving each specific problem.
Model Development Approach
Regarding the model, Qwen focuses on stable task execution. The team developed what is called a user needs map covering over 30 major industries and detailed it down to more than 8000 atomic requirements for the model's capabilities. Industry experts were involved in evaluating and tuning the model.
Memory Mechanism
Jiang noted that a personal agent must ensure long-term understanding of the user, avoiding the simple accumulation of chat history, which increases noise and computational costs. Qwen constructs its memory based on the degree of event interconnectedness, storing and retrieving them at various levels. For example, an assistant that remembers an elderly user mentioned their pension can give more relevant advice when the same family later asks about finding a job for a child.
Role of the Ecosystem
Concerning the ecosystem, Jiang stated that as models and management methods improve, the ability to link and coordinate external services becomes crucial. Qwen creates a model-oriented open service ecosystem that integrates professional knowledge, tools, industry skills, and third-party agents, while also connecting to e-commerce, local services, healthcare, and education.
In his view, these three elements combine to provide proactive service: memory provides personal information, the model uses expert knowledge to determine needs and plan, and the ecosystem executes the work, such as tracking a patient's rehabilitation schedule or alerting to new financial risks for the user. This report represents the most detailed public description of the technical concept behind the Qwen Go! personal agent, which Alibaba opened for registration this month.